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Pentecost arrives in a breathtaking manner

Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit came to the Christian Church in a very special, powerful way, will be celebrated Sunday, 50 days after Easter. It began when Jesus said to his disciples, “Now I will go away to the one who has sent me. I assure you it is better for you if I go away. For the Spirit of Truth will come and will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:5-7). The disciples were bewildered and grief-stricken. They knew they were going to lose Jesus.

But after his death on the cross, Jesus presented himself alive to his disciples by many convincing proofs, appearing to them for 40 days speaking about the kingdom of God. Then Jesus said to them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” When he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. (Acts 1:8-9).

Jesus’ ascension was the end of the Jesus of history and the beginning of the Christ of faith. We need to remember that Jesus was born a human being. (Jn.1:14). Thus, limited to time and space, and was completely human. The Apostle’s Creed has a blunt statement of Jesus humanity, “he was crucified, dead and buried.” Now through the presence of the Holy Spirit, Christ is present everywhere and every place at all times.

Remember when Jesus said to Thomas, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (Jn. 20:29). We are those who have not seen but believe. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was never more present than when he was absent. Jesus’ spatial limitations have been removed.
We find it easier to celebrate Jesus’ coming at Christmas, it is much more difficult to celebrate his going away. But the Ascension is very important in preparation for Pentecost. It is all one story.

Note, although the apostles were not present at Jesus’ resurrection, they did witness his ascension, adding to their creditability as witnesses, to the fact that Jesus was alive. After Jesus’ ascension the disciples, with other followers of Jesus, returned to Jerusalem to the upper room where they had been staying. They were waiting for Jesus’ promise to be fulfilled, that the Holy Spirit was coming. All were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus. This is the last time that Mary appears in the New Testament. The text tells us, “they were all united in their devotion to prayer.”

When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven, like the howling of a fierce wind filled the house where they were sitting. What seemed to be individual flames of fire alighted on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak, not to be confused with the spiritual gift of glossolalia that concerns Paul in 1 Cor. 12. They quickly shifted from inside the upper room, where the disciples had gathered, to the street outside. There they saw a crowd of devout Jews from every nation under heaven gathering to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

This vast, diverse crowd of different languages and cultures was bewildered and amazed saying, “how is it possible that each of us can hear these Galileans speaking of the mighty works of God in our own language!” They were surprised at what was taking place. Some asked, “What does this mean?” Others jeered them saying, “They are full of new wine!” They had a hard time distinguishing between inspiration and inebriation. A popular interpretation has been that Pentecost was the reversal of the Tower of Babel in Gen. 11:9

Now God’s day has come. Peter is about to address the crowd, but it was only a few weeks ago in the midst of a hostile crowd that he denied he was a disciple of Christ or ever knew him. Will Willimon states, “the Spirit has breathed new life into a once cowardly disciple and created a new man who now has the gift of bold speech.” Peter uses this miracle as an occasion for the proclamation of the good news.

A renewed Peter stands up before the crowd and raises his voice addressing them, ‘’Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene was known to you by the miracles, wonders and signs which God performed through him among you, which all of you are aware. You, with the help of wicked men, had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. God raised him up from death’s grip since it was impossible for death to hang on to him. God made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the crowd heard this they were deeply troubled by Peter’s words. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you will then receive the presence of the Holy Spirit.” Those who accepted Peter’s message were baptized. Peter’s sermon was the greatest of his life, with unbelievable results. “For God brought about 3,000 people into the community of faith on that day.”(Acts 2:41). Because of the force and power of Peter’s sermon and the response by the crowd, Pentecost has been recognized as the Birthday of the Church celebrated annually 50 days after the Resurrection.

Why does Pentecost matter? Because it ushers in the presence of the Holy Spirit in a breathtaking manner. Acts 2:42-44, states, “miraculously, from such a diverse assembly of people, from every nation under heaven, they had all things in common, forming a unified body of believers, sharing everything with those in need.” Remarkably, the church was safe for diversity of race, culture and language. The commonalty of food and possessions is set forth as a concrete testimony that something substantial has happened to these people.

Luke’s purpose was to create a vivid impression of the Spirit’s coming. He knew at the Creation in Gen. 1, it was the breath of God, that swept over the face of the waters creating the heavens and earth. At Mt. Sinai it was the wind, fire and thunder of God’s presence as Moses received the Law, leading Jewish slaves to freedom, thus creating Israel. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit with wind and fire was miraculously giving birth to the Christian Church. N.T. Wright points out that, “the two symbols representing God’s presence: wind is unpredictable and fire is uncontrollable, demonstrating that the breath of God cannot be reduced to a manageable force.” Remember Jesus words to Nicodemus, “God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You do not know where it comes from or where it is going.” These courageous and committed souls went out in the words of Luke, and “turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6).

Church historians point out to us that the greatest period of growth, expansion and moral influence of the Christian Church took place between Pentecost and the time of Constantine’s Edict of Toleration in 311 C.E. The church in Acts provides us with both hope and judgment. Hope in what the church could be and judgment in what we have failed to be. Charles Wesley writes, “Come, Holy Spirit our heart’s desire, and ignite within us a celestial fire.”

Jack Stroman, a teacher and writer living in Tallahassee. After serving as a United Methodist pastor for 40 years taught New Testament studies at Trinity Methodist TheologicalSeminary in Ghana, West Africa. He holds a Th.D. degree in theology, from Boston University, School of Theology.